1. Prabowo Subianto Djojohadikusumo is an Indonesian politician, businessman, and former army general serving as the eighth president of Indonesia since 2024.
146 Facts About Prabowo Subianto
1. 2.
Prabowo Subianto was previously the 26th minister of defense under president Joko Widodo from 2019 to 2024.
3.
Prabowo Subianto graduated from the Indonesian Military Academy in 1970 and primarily served in the Special Forces until he was appointed to lead the Strategic Reserves Command in 1998.
4.
Prabowo Subianto contested the 2014 presidential election and was defeated by Jakarta governor Joko Widodo, which he initially disputed.
5.
Prabowo Subianto made another unsuccessful run for the presidency in 2019 against Joko Widodo, with Sandiaga Uno as his running mate and with the support of Gerindra, the Prosperous Justice Party, the National Mandate Party, the Democratic Party, and Berkarya Party.
6.
However, after a heated contest, Prabowo Subianto joined Joko Widodo's cabinet as his minister of defense for the 2019 to 2024 period.
7.
On 12 August 2022, Prabowo Subianto announced that he accepted Gerindra's nomination.
8.
Prabowo Subianto was sworn in as the 8th president of Indonesia on 20 October 2024.
9.
Prabowo Subianto was an economist who served as former President Sukarno's minister for the economy and Suharto's minister for research and technology.
10.
Prabowo Subianto's mother, Dora Marie Sigar, was a Protestant Christian of Minahasan and German descent, who originated from the Sigar-Maengkom family in Langowan, North Sulawesi.
11.
Prabowo Subianto's father was a member of the Volksraad of the Dutch East Indies.
12.
Prabowo Subianto has two older sisters, Bianti Djojohadikusumo, who was born in 1946 and Maryani Djojohadikusumo, who was born in 1948.
13.
Prabowo Subianto's only brother, Hashim Djojohadikusumo, was born in 1953.
14.
Between 1966 and 1968, the family lived in London, where Prabowo Subianto attended and graduated from the American School.
15.
Prabowo Subianto enrolled in the Indonesian Military Academy in Magelang in 1970.
16.
Prabowo Subianto graduated in 1974 with others who would gain senior leadership positions, such as Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
17.
In 1976, Prabowo Subianto served in the Indonesian Army Special Forces Command and was assigned as the commander of Group 1, which was one of the Indonesian Army's Nanggala commando units in East Timor, the former Portuguese territory that Indonesia had invaded the previous year.
18.
Prabowo Subianto led the mission to capture the vice president of Fretilin, who was the first prime minister of East Timor, Nicolau dos Reis Lobato.
19.
On 31 December 1978, Prabowo Subianto's company found and fatally shot Nicolau in the stomach as he was being escorted in Maubisse, fifty kilometres south of Dili.
20.
In 1983, it was claimed that Prabowo Subianto commanded the special forces responsible for the Kraras massacres in East Timor.
21.
Prabowo Subianto claimed he was nowhere near the Viqueque district when the massacre happened, and neither the UN nor the government of Timor Leste have ever proffered charges of human rights violations against him.
22.
In 1985 Prabowo Subianto attended the Advanced Infantry Officers Course at Fort Bragg, in the United States for commando training.
23.
In 1996, Prabowo Subianto led Operation Mapenduma in the mountainous terrain of Papua.
24.
On 20 March 1998, Prabowo Subianto was appointed head of the 27,000-strong Army Strategic Reserve Command, that Suharto had commanded in 1965.
25.
Less than three months after his appointment as head of Kostrad, on the first day of the May 1998 riots, Prabowo Subianto urged the commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces, General Wiranto, to let him bring his Strategic Reserve units from outside Jakarta into the city to help restore order.
26.
Prabowo Subianto publicly urged Indonesians to join him to fight "traitors to the nation".
27.
Troops under Prabowo Subianto's command kidnapped and tortured at least nine democracy activists in the months before the May 1998 riots.
28.
Prabowo Subianto was suspected of organising the kidnappings of another 13 activists between February 1997 and May 1998.
29.
Together with Operations Commander for Greater Jakarta Major General Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, Prabowo Subianto aimed to terrorise opponents of the government and to show that Wiranto was "an incompetent commander who could not control disorder".
30.
Prabowo Subianto asserted that he was unsure of the precise movements of military forces in the capital and deferred to Sjafrie.
31.
Meanwhile, another version states that Prabowo Subianto was dismissed from his post because he was suspected of carrying out a coup against Habibie.
32.
Habibie then ordered Prabowo Subianto to be dismissed from his post just before sunset in that day.
33.
Prabowo Subianto and Wiranto denied that the discharge was a result of disciplinary action.
34.
Prabowo Subianto purchased Kiani Kertas, a paper pulp and plantation company based in Mangkajang, East Kalimantan.
35.
Prabowo Subianto's companies include Nusantara Energy, Tidar Kerinci Agung and Jaladri Nusantara.
36.
Prabowo Subianto was established in 1990 and is part of the Nusantara Energy.
37.
Prabowo Subianto considered pressing criminal charges against Churchill, alleging that Churchill forged its license.
38.
Prabowo Subianto was elected President of HKTI on 5 December 2004, and he was reappointed in 2010 for a second term.
39.
Prabowo Subianto was elected as president of IPSI in 2004 and was re-elected in 2012 for a third consecutive term.
40.
IPSI's achievements under Prabowo Subianto's chairmanship were very impressive at the 2018 Asian Games, where pencak silat succeeded in contributing 14 of the 31 gold medals won by the Indonesian contingent.
41.
Prabowo Subianto is the President of the International Pencak Silat Federation.
42.
The Indonesian Advocacy Service for Justice and Peace in the East Nusa Tenggara region assessed that Prabowo Subianto played a major role in the release of Wilfrida Soik from the death penalty at the Kota Bahru Court, Kelantan, Malaysia.
43.
Prabowo Subianto appointed Malaysian lawyer Tan Sri Mohammad Syafei to defend Wilfrida Soik.
44.
In 2004, Prabowo Subianto was one of five contenders in the 2004 Golkar Party National Convention vying to become Golkar party's presidential candidate.
45.
Prabowo Subianto received the lowest number of votes, just 39, and was eliminated in the first round.
46.
Prabowo Subianto served as chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Central Leadership Council.
47.
Prabowo Subianto was later appointed general chairman of the party after the death of the party's previous chairman Suhardi in 2014.
48.
However, having won 26 out of 560 seats in the Indonesian parliament, the party did not have the required numbers, and Prabowo Subianto ran as a vice-presidential candidate to Megawati Sukarnoputri, daughter of Indonesia's first president Sukarno.
49.
Megawati and Prabowo Subianto were absent at the announcement of the official tally even though Law No 42 of 2008 concerning Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections mandated each pair of candidates to be present in determining the official results of the presidential election.
50.
In November 2011, Prabowo Subianto announced his intention to run in the 2014 presidential election.
51.
Prabowo Subianto said he would run an investment-friendly administration if he won and that Indonesia needed more energy exploration.
52.
Prabowo Subianto promised to use military-style efficiency to push through chronically delayed infrastructure projects, as well as to create jobs in the archipelago's backwaters by improving agricultural productivity.
53.
The day before, Prabowo Subianto had picked former Coordinating Minister for Economics Hatta Rajasa as his vice-presidential running mate.
54.
On 22 July 2014, the day that the KPU was due to announce its official tally, Prabowo Subianto withdrew from the race after having insisted on his victory since the initial quick counts were released, although the majority showed Jokowi ahead.
55.
Prabowo Subianto's speech, aired live, implied he would challenge the results in the Constitutional Court.
56.
Later reports indicated confusion over whether Prabowo Subianto had resigned from the election or simply rejected the count.
57.
On 12 April 2018, Prabowo Subianto announced he would contest the 2019 presidential election if he could obtain sufficient support from other political parties.
58.
Indonesian media had speculated on whether Prabowo Subianto would become a presidential candidate or a "king-maker" giving his support to another candidate.
59.
Luhut reportedly lost his enthusiasm after Prabowo Subianto allegedly said he would want to be in charge of the military and seven seats in any new cabinet.
60.
Fadli Zon denied Luhut and Prabowo Subianto had discussed politics, claiming they merely spoke about Europe's move to limit imports of Indonesian palm oil.
61.
On 10 August 2018, Prabowo Subianto registered at the KPU office for the 2019 presidential election with Sandiaga Uno as his running mate and with the support of Gerindra, PKS, PAN, the Democratic Party and Berkarya Party.
62.
The Democratic Party had wanted Prabowo Subianto to choose Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono as his running mate.
63.
On 7 January 2023, Prabowo Subianto launched his third presidential campaign for the 2024 presidential election.
64.
Prabowo Subianto is running as president, together with Gibran Rakabuming Raka, as his vice-presidential candidate.
65.
In November 2023, Prabowo Subianto called for "rebalancing" where, in the past decades, Indonesia looked to the West; now they should learn from the East like China, India, Japan and South Korea.
66.
Prabowo Subianto entertained the idea of Indonesia joining BRICS if it is advantageous for Indonesia's economy, citing BRICS' nature as an economic bloc, not a geopolitical one.
67.
On 20 March 2024, the General Elections Commission announced Prabowo Subianto's victory, having received over 96 million votes.
68.
On 23 October 2019, Prabowo Subianto was inaugurated as Indonesia's Minister of Defense by president Joko Widodo.
69.
Prabowo Subianto was aided by Sakti Wahyu Trenggono as Deputy Minister of Defense.
70.
Shortly after his inauguration, Prabowo Subianto began advocating for a "total people's war" doctrine for Indonesia's national defense.
71.
Prabowo Subianto used the certainty of the defense budget to purchase the main equipment for advanced weapons that the TNI had never had.
72.
Prabowo Subianto is planning to massively expand Indonesia's domestic ability to manufacture ammunition, as Indonesia's capacity to manufacture is only 450 million rounds of ammunition per year, despite a demand for one billion rounds of ammunition annually.
73.
Prabowo Subianto ordered 500 Pindad Maung light utility vehicles on 2020.
74.
Prabowo Subianto led renegotiation attempts regarding on the payment of the KAI KF-21 Boramae fighter program after his predecessor, Ryamizard Ryacudu stalled the payment of Indonesia's shares in the program.
75.
Prabowo Subianto later attended the launch of the aircraft prototype together with South Korean President Moon Jae-in representing Indonesia.
76.
On 20 April 2022, together with Minister of State Owned Enterprise Erick Thohir, Prabowo Subianto strengthened the Indonesian defence industry by consolidating PT Len, Pindad, PAL Indonesia, Indonesian Aerospace and PT Dahana into a single holding, Defend ID.
77.
On 2020, Prabowo Subianto was appointed by Jokowi to spearhead the national food estate program.
78.
Jokowi's reasoning for Prabowo Subianto's appointment was that as Minister of Defense, Prabowo Subianto plays important role on carrying out strategic projects such as food storage.
79.
Prabowo Subianto made efforts to help state owned defense enterprises to export their products overseas.
80.
Prabowo Subianto succeeded in helping Indonesian Aerospace export CN-235 aircraft to Senegal and export NC-212i aircraft to Thailand, as well as helping PAL Indonesia export landing platform dock-type warships to the Philippine Navy.
81.
Prabowo Subianto ordered the deployment of additional navy vessels in the region in response to the incident.
82.
Prabowo Subianto then quoted Nelson Mandela that "your enemies must not be our enemies too".
83.
In reaction to the formation of AUKUS and Australian plans to acquire nuclear submarines, Prabowo Subianto thinks that the alliance is made on basis of defense and it was beneath the sovereign rights of Australia, UK, and USA.
84.
US Department of Defense said both Secretary Lloyd Austin and Minister Prabowo Subianto viewed China's aggression in the South China Sea as inconsistent to international law.
85.
In October 2020, Prabowo Subianto visited the United States despite his previous ban from entering the country, in his capacity as Minister of Defense after being invited by his US counterpart Mark Esper and a visa was issued for him.
86.
From his frequent foreign visit overtures such as in the United States, Prabowo Subianto succeeded in convincing the United States Congress to approve the sale of the advanced F-15EX Eagle II supersonic fighter aircraft to Indonesia.
87.
On 3 June 2023, Prabowo Subianto proposed a multi-point peace plan to end the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine at IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
88.
Prabowo Subianto's proposal was dismissed outright by Ukrainian defense minister Oleksii Reznikov, stating that the proposal was "a Russian plan, not an Indonesian plan".
89.
Prabowo Subianto was later called by Jokowi for clarifications on the peace plan as Indonesia had officially condemned Russia for the invasion.
90.
Prabowo Subianto told Zelenskyy that "Many countries feel that in a peace summit all elements must be present, especially Russia".
91.
Prabowo Subianto offered Indonesia's solution to Zelenskyy which he seemed not to accept Indonesia's proposal on ceasefire and Prabowo Subianto is keen to continue finding a solution.
92.
Prabowo Subianto offered Zelenskyy Indonesia's good service in any avenues to find solutions for peace between Russia and Ukraine.
93.
Prabowo Subianto had communicated with the Egyptian defense minister Mohamed Ahmad Zaki to allow the passage of the Indonesian Navy hospital ship KRI dr.
94.
Prabowo Subianto's statement is further backed by Commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces Agus Subiyanto, stating the TNI can deploy 1394 personnels for peacekeeping missions in Gaza and has approached Singapore and Australia who express their interest in joining Indonesia for a joint operation.
95.
Prabowo Subianto's idea gained support from Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who proposed a joint mission between Indonesia and Malaysia.
96.
Prabowo Subianto waived tuition fees for distinguished cadets and ensure the welfare of students by providing laptop computers from campus.
97.
On 25 March 2022, Jokowi and Prabowo Subianto expanded the campus by opening a branch outside Sentul, West Java, namely Ben Mboi Polytechnic, in Belu, East Nusa Tenggara.
98.
Prabowo Subianto personally received 22 Palestinian students to be enrolled at campus on 8 November 2023 with a 5-year term study in medicine, pharmacy, and engineering.
99.
Prabowo Subianto gave them full scholarship and promised to enroll more Palestinian students into the university.
100.
On 20 October 2024, Prabowo Subianto assumed the presidency of Indonesia.
101.
At 73 years, three days of age on inauguration day, Prabowo Subianto is the oldest person to assume Indonesian presidency, while his counterpart, Gibran, is the youngest person to assume the Indonesian vice presidency at 37 years, 19 days of age.
102.
On 21 October, Prabowo Subianto unveiled the largest ministerial cabinet in Indonesia since the Revised Dwikora Cabinet of President Sukarno in 1966, composed of 103 members including 48 ministers and 55 deputy ministers.
103.
On 5 November 2024, Prabowo Subianto signed a law that wrote off bad debt for small and medium enterprises in order to increase national economic resilience through write-offs and conditional write-offs in the fields of agriculture, plantations, animal husbandry, fisheries and maritime affairs.
104.
On Monday 24 February 2025, Prabowo Subianto officially launched the Daya Anagata Nusantara sovereign wealth fund.
105.
Prabowo Subianto officially launched Indonesia's first-ever bullion bank service on Wednesday, 26 February 2025.
106.
Prabowo Subianto's policies enacted as Minister of Defense is then continued by Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin.
107.
Prabowo Subianto continued the foreign policy of "thousand friends and zero enemies" enacted by his predecessors Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Joko Widodo with a slightly more active role.
108.
Prabowo Subianto was the first president-elect to conduct foreign visits prior to his inauguration, visiting 20 countries with China being his first after the election.
109.
Prabowo Subianto voiced his support in the D-8 summit held in Cairo while expressing his disappointment in front of other Muslim leaders on the lack of unity, citing Libya, Yemen, and Sudan.
110.
When it was Prabowo Subianto's turn to speak in the D-8 summit, some dignitaries, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, "walked out" from the summit, nudging Prabowo Subianto's seat on his way out.
111.
Prabowo Subianto was invited by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government as chief guest of the Republic Day celebration in 2025.
112.
Prabowo Subianto said Indonesia considers India a great friend and the first country that recognized Indonesian independence.
113.
Construction of Nusantara under Prabowo Subianto's presidency continued despite no longer be considered as priority due to reallocation of other policies such as the free meal program.
114.
In 1983, according to Sintong Panjaitan, Prabowo had a dispute with a few generals who plotted to overthrow Suharto to the point that he plotted to use Detachment 81 to attempt kidnapping these generals, including General L B Moerdani who was rumored to be plotting a coup against Suharto.
115.
The threat of a coup against Suharto was later found to be false and Prabowo Subianto was given a leave due to stress.
116.
However, Prabowo Subianto denied Sintong Panjaitan's version of the story by laughing.
117.
Prabowo Subianto calmly said that every time there was a new book, there would be a new coup accusation leveled against himself, and left everyone with their own version of the story.
118.
Prabowo Subianto was involved in a dispute with Moerdani ahead of the 1988 MPR General Assembly.
119.
Prabowo Subianto reported this to Suharto and Suharto heeded Prabowo Subianto's report by replacing Moerdani with Try Sutrisno as commander of the armed forces.
120.
In 1983, it was claimed that Prabowo Subianto commanded the Indonesian special forces responsible for the Kraras massacres in East Timor.
121.
Prabowo Subianto claimed he was nowhere near the Viqueque district when the massacre happened, and neither the UN nor the government of Timor Leste have ever proffered charges of human rights violations against him.
122.
In September 2020, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto appointed two of the Team Mawar officers, two serving brigadier generals, to senior positions in the Ministry of Defense following approval by President Joko Widodo.
123.
On 18 September 2017, at the launch of a book on his father's political economy theory, Prabowo Subianto made a speech warning Indonesia could break apart in 2030.
124.
In late 2018, Prabowo Subianto was ridiculed after erroneously stating that Haiti, a republic in the Caribbean, is an African country.
125.
On 17 January 2019, in the first debate between the candidates in Indonesia's April 2019 presidential election, Prabowo Subianto said some Indonesian governors deserve higher salaries considering the size of their provinces.
126.
Prabowo Subianto gave the example of Central Java province, which he claimed is larger than Malaysia.
127.
Prabowo Subianto's endorsement was slammed by the PDI-P, and Deputy Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly Bambang Wuryanto called the endorsement as "worrying" and reminded Prabowo that he is the president, not just a party leader.
128.
Prabowo Subianto saw himself as a potential successor to Suharto and remained a strong supporter of the regime.
129.
Prabowo Subianto and Titiek have one son together, fashion designer Ragowo Hediprasetyo, who was born in March 1984.
130.
Prabowo Subianto is a cat lover and owns a cat named Bobby Kertanegara.
131.
Prabowo Subianto had once brought his horse to campaign rallies especially in Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.
132.
Prabowo Subianto himself stated that he liked this suit for practical reasons.
133.
Prabowo Subianto started wearing it frequently when he was paired with Megawati in the 2009 presidential election.
134.
Prabowo Subianto has limited proficiency in Arabic, which he learned during his time in Jordan.
135.
Prabowo Subianto added that he had insufficient knowledge about Islam.
136.
Prabowo Subianto has stated that he could not read the Quran fluently.
137.
Prabowo Subianto said that he was not born into a family steeped in Islamic teachings but grew up with his colleagues who were members of various Islamic community organizations.
138.
On 13 May 2023, Prabowo Subianto stated that he was proud to adhere to Islam, which he considers to be the pioneer in many scientific and technological breakthroughs around the world.
139.
On 30 June 2024, Prabowo Subianto announced that he was undergoing a surgery on his left foot via his Instagram account.
140.
Prabowo Subianto first injured it when he was participating in a paratrooping exercise in West Germany while he was training with GSG 9.
141.
Prabowo Subianto, who was 30 at the time of the accident, did not experience further issues until his 2024 campaign, when he was seen walking on a limp on his left foot.
142.
Prabowo Subianto underwent a successful surgery on his left foot a week later at the National Defense Central Hospital.
143.
On 17 June 2009, Prabowo Subianto was declared a member of the Lumban Tobing clan of the Toba Batak people.
144.
On 28 December 2011, Prabowo Subianto received the traditional title of Tongkonan from the indigenous people of Siguntu village, Rantepao, North Toraja.
145.
Prabowo Subianto received the title of Friend of Indonesian Santri from the Zainul Hasan Genggong Islamic Boarding School, Probolinggo, on 2 January 2024.
146.
On 28 February 2024, Prabowo Subianto was awarded an honorary four-star general rank by President Joko Widodo.